Paul Saunders — Latest Diplomatic Rift Places US, Russia on Edge of ‘Tipping Point’

The Russian government’s recent announcement of its decision to eject American diplomats and block access to two diplomatic properties may signal an approaching tipping point in the United States-Russia relationship. Trump administration officials and members of Congress should consider very carefully how to proceed.…

Rapid escalation of the U.S.-Russia confrontation could be shocking for many Americans, including policymakers, members of Congress and journalists, among others. Indeed, while many have come to agree with the view offered by 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, that Russia is America’s “number one geopolitical foe,” few seem to remember what it truly means to face a powerful enemy state. This is in part because since the Cold War, America has generally chosen to confront only weak to middling states, such as Iran, Iraq, Libya and North Korea. It is also in part because the U.S. media has tended to conflate refusal to cooperate with active opposition to U.S. objectives.

In practice, however, there is a big difference between failing to cooperate and pursuing energetic resistance to the U.S.... If Moscow’s foreign policy reaches and passes the tipping point between the former of these behaviors and the latter, Russia could seriously harm U.S. national security interests in ways Americans have not experienced for decades.…

Alternatively, policymakers could take a hard look at U.S.-Russia relations before reaching that point and try to find a way out of this mess.

Attacking Iraq was a strategic blunder. Threatening Russia is strategic folly.

Russia Matters — In the Thick of It
Latest Diplomatic Rift Places US, Russia on Edge of ‘Tipping Point’

Paul Saunders | executive director of the Center for the National Interest

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Russia has acquired information from reliable sources that at times weapons deliveries to terrorist organizations is done by some countries' secret services, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said during a UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.

"Russia has information from trustworthy sources suggesting that sometimes the organizations which deliver weapons to terrorists are being dealt with by some interested parties in the countries, including their intelligence services," Nebenzya stated. 

Nebenzya added that Russia will be ready to share this specific information if such need arises.

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